Archive for marine policy

Oregon Sea Grant is pleased and proud to announce that five of its nominees for the 2018-19 John D. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship program have been selected as finalists: Reuben Biel, of Oregon State University; Sabra Tallchief Comet, of Portland State University; Chanté Davis, of Oregon State University; Janan Evans-Wilent, of Oregon State University; and Kathryn McIntosh, of the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College. Congratulations to all!

Reuben Biel

Sabra Tallchief Comet

Chanté Davis

Janan Evans-Wilent

Kathryn McIntosh

To learn more about the Knauss Fellowship program, including how finalists are selected and where they may be placed, read the full news release from NOAA Sea Grant.

Placement of 2018 Knauss finalists as fellows is contingent on adequate funding in Fiscal Year 2018.

Oregon Sea Grant is pleased to announce that Oregon State University graduate Elizabeth Cerny-Chipman has been selected as a 2017 John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow.

Currently Cerny-Chipman is a post-doc marine ecologist in Bruce Menge’s lab at Oregon State University. For her dissertation, she studied the influence of environmental context on species interactions, with the goal of “better understanding how climate change will affect biological communities.” She also studied the ecological consequences of sea star wasting disease, which first appeared on the Oregon coast in 2014.

Besides research, Cerny-Chipman says, “I have a passion for science policy and how science can best inform policy and management decisions. I also enjoy sharing my science with the public and learning about science communication and engagement.”

Cerny-Chipman says she is “delighted to be representing Oregon Sea Grant and very excited to start my Fellowship,” which begins February 1 at NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management in Silver Spring, Maryland. (Photo by Chris Becerra for Oregon State University)

A research team at Portland State University is conducting a survey of Oregonians to find out how Oregon residents use and value the coast and ocean. The survey asks for your opinions on marine management activities and your preferences for future management. It also includes an online mapping activity, allowing you to indicate places on the coast that are important to you and to recommend changes in the management of areas.

The goal of the survey is to reach a broad set of adult residents who have lived in Oregon for a year or more. The research team also wants to make sure they hear from people across the state, including eastern and southern Oregon. Please feel free to share this link with others via e-mail, social media, or any other way you feel comfortable.

This project is funded by Oregon Sea Grant, and findings will be shared in a final report to managers, researchers, and the public. All responses will be anonymous, and only summaries of findings will be shared.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Paul Manson, a Ph.D. student researcher at Portland State University: mansonp@pdx.edu. You may also contact the project’s principal investigator, Elise Granek, at graneke@pdx.edu. The research team is also on Twitter.

A new publication from Oregon Sea Grant, Collaborative Science-Stakeholder Engagement, encourages collaboration among scientific disciplines and extending that collaboration to include participants outside the academic world.

The 20-page publication outlines various types of collaboration, both among researchers of diverse disciplines and among researchers and stakeholders. It explores collaborations seeking to achieve different goals in natural-resource research and management (sustainability, climate change adaptive management, decision-making tool development, alternative futures exploration). In also provides examples of stakeholder engagement in these contexts for the understanding and management of various natural resources, and summarizes literature from other research on science-stakeholder engagement elements.

Finally, the guide lists the lessons learned, necessary elements and impacts from these case studies.

The guide is intended as a resource for anyone interested in connecting science producers and science users. It summarizes literature from a broad swatch of research with science-stakeholder engagement elements.

The research was conducted and text written by Laura Ferguson, Oregon State University Marine Resource Management program, with review and contributions by Samuel Chan, Mary Santelmann and Maria Wright.

Collaborative Science-Stakeholder Engagement is available as a free, downloadable PDF here.

EUGENE – Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) will host a roundtable policy discussion, “Earthquake Early Warning in the Pacific Northwest: Preparing for the Big One,” on Tuesday Sept. 22 at 10:30 am in the HEDCO Education Building, Room 230T at the University of Oregon, 1655 Alder Street, Eugene.

Among the invited participants is Oregon Sea Grant’s Pat Corcoran, a specialist in coastal earthquake and tsunami preparedness.

The event brings together local, state and federal officials and scientists to discuss earthquake resilience programs and efforts, the ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system and the next steps for developing an offshore earthquake early warning system.

DeFAzio is the ranking member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

To ensure this environment remains healthy and vibrant, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and Oregon Sea Grant (OSG) teamed up and developed a successful partnership that focuses on enhancing the intersection of science and management. This partnership has fostered fellowships and scholarships that support science-based resource management issues. As part of this collaboration, two OSG Fellows, Kelsey Adkisson and Ivan Kuletz, worked with ODFW on a great example of Oregon’s support for science-based ocean resource management- the Oregon Nearshore Strategy.

The Oregon Nearshore Strategy is a set of prioritized recommendations for conservation, management, and research of species and habitats that occur within state waters. Oregon’s nearshore environment is home to a vast array of species and habitats. All of which are integral components of a complex nearshore ecosystem. This ecosystem is interconnected through food webs, ocean currents, and a multitude of other biological, physical, chemical, geological and human use factors.

Originally developed in 2005, and currently undergoing a ten year revision, the Nearshore Strategy was created via a collaborative process led by ODFW. Members of the public, ocean-related businesses, recreational interests, conservation groups, government agencies, tribes, universities, and many other sectors helped contribute to the Strategy.

“At its core, the Nearshore Strategy is intended to contribute to the larger domain of marine resources management and focus actions towards priority issues and areas that have not already received the attention they deserve,” explained Caren Braby, the ODFW Marine Resources Program Manager. “Ultimately, the Strategy’s effectiveness hinges on public input, which helps shape the document, and also ensures that diverse perspectives, values, visions and concerns for the nearshore environment are represented.”

As part of the 2015 revision process, Kelsey and Ivan worked with ODFW Project Leader, Greg Krutzikowsky, to review and update the enormous body of scientific knowledge that underpins the document. This information was used to develop recommendations that support Oregon’s diversity of marine life. As Sea Grant Scholars, it was a unique experience to be part of something that is used by such a broad variety of interest groups, including federal agencies, policy makers, citizen groups, fishermen, conservation organizations, and researchers.
The Nearshore Strategy is currently undergoing public review and the update is due to be completed by October 1, 2015. Public input is essential to shaping and prioritizing resource needs for the next ten years and ODFW is seeking input on the Strategy. To review the Oregon Nearshore Strategy, provide input, or find out more about the revision process please visit the ODFW Oregon Nearshore Strategy website: (http://www.dfw.state.or.us/MRP/nearshore/index.asp).

The Coastal and Estuarine Research Foundation (CERF) invites abstracts for presentations as part of an oral session at CERF 2015 this November, highlighting opportunities for linking scientists and natural resource managers to promote effective, science-based decision making on ocean acidification and hypoxia.

Convened by the Ocean Science Trust, the Institute for Natural Resources and Oregon Sea Grant, the session is planned to include talks about ocean acidification and hypoxia in two areas:

Oregon Sea Grant is seeking qualified applicants with a strong interest in marine resource policy for our 2015-16 Natural Resource Policy Fellowship. Applications are due to the Oregon Sea Grant office no later than 5 pm on March 17.

This fellowship, which gives a student first-hand experience working on natural resource policy at the state level, is open to graduate students from any college or university with a physical campus located in Oregon, who have completed their graduate degree within since September 2013 or are within a year of completing it; preference will be given to those who have wrapped up their degrees by the time the fellowship starts.

The successful candidate will interview with multiple agency hosts to determine the best fit for both. The one-year, non-renewable fellowship, which includes a $31,200 stipend in monthly installments, plus travel, begins between May and July 2015, depending on the needs of the fellow and the agency with whom he or she is matched.

Climate change: Some people feel overwhelmed by it, others argue about it. Oregon Sea Grant researchers, Extension specialists and communicators, meanwhile are working to better understand what a changing climate is already doing to the ocean and coast – and helping coastal communities better prepare themselves for higher and more damaging waves, stronger storms, rising sea level and other anticipated changes.

The latest issue of OSG’s Confluence magazine examines some of the issues coastal Oregon faces, and ways in which Sea Grant is helping citizens and scientists address them, from anticipating the effects of climate change to building resilience in the face of them – and better understanding how people with different backgrounds and philosophies can even communicate about the topic.

Other articles in this issue include

Profiles of several Oregon Sea Grant Scholars, and how their student experiences in Sea Grant internships and fellowships helped prepare them for careers in marine science and public policy

A new app that helps coastal visitors identify critters they find on the beach – and contribute to citizen science by reporting them.

A study of how juvenile Dungeness crab move through coastal waters as they mature, and an exhibit at the Hatfield Marine Science Center that explains what scientists are learning, and how it might benefit the crab fishery.